What surprises us about these folks, when we do come into contact with them, is that they will take God's name in vain, using His name when they curse. If they believe there is no God, why bother using His name like that, or at all?
We may not know why they use God's name along with curse words, but we do know why they deny the existence of God.
The Bible says, "...The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good."
That is, they are trying to fool themselves into thinking there is no God.
Illus: We have now heard that the atheists have their own “Dial-A-Prayer." You dial 0, and no one answers!
Illus: Evangelist Ding Teuling makes a very interesting statement. He says that there is NO SUCH THING as a TRUE ATHEIST. He then goes on to say why he makes such a statement. He says, “For a person to be a true atheist he would have to know everything there is to know about everything there is to know about and NO MAN CAN MAKE THAT CLAIM.”
The person who would make that claim would have to be a fool to do so!
Again, very seldom do we meet people who are so foolish as to say, "I do not believe there is a God.” The fact is, almost everyone believes there is a God!
Now we find people have different ideas about God.
Illus: A minister was witnessing to a man he considered to be a lost man. This man's life certainly reflected that he did not know the Lord as his personal Savior. But once the minister began to witness to him, the man reached over and slightly grabbed his arm and said, “Preacher I know God! I know, I do not attend church, read my Bible, and give to the church as I should. And I know, I drink and cuss and do things I shouldn’t do, but God and I have this little agreement with each other. I know God.”
I can not find anywhere in this Bible where God says He has made any little side agreements with people.
People who live in sin yet claim to know the Lord make it clear, by the fruit they bear, that they do not really know the God of this Bible. The Bible makes it clear that once we have been saved by the marvelous grace of God the OLD LIFE OF SIN passes away. We become NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST! We then work for the Lord. Our works do not save us, we work for the Lord because we are saved!
Often we wonder about some people who claim to know the Lord. We should not have to wonder.
Illus: If someone asked you if you knew (select a person from your congregation) you might say, "Yes, I know ____ ______.
• He is about six feet tall.
• He has beautiful blue eyes.
• He has curly hair.
• He is very handsome.
• He is very distinguished looking.
• He is very wealthy.
• All the women in the county and the next think he is
a living doll!
Yea! I know _________ ________”
WHY ARE SOME OF YOU FOLKS LAUGHING?
I know why. It is because the description I just gave is not the description of the ______ ______ that we know.
Many today who are living in sin, yet claim they know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, make you wonder if they even know of Him.
It is obvious as we look at God's Word that the savior they know is not the Savior of the Bible that we know.
In 1 John 5, the apostle John gives us FIVE TESTS to take to determine if we truly know the God of the Bible.
I. THE FIRST TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD HAS CHANGED
That is, if we have been born of God, then our attitude toward God has changed.
Look at verse 1. We read, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God...”
The word translated "believeth" is from the Greek word, "pisteuo, which means: "To entrust, to commit.”
Salvation comes as a result of a person being enlightened by the Spirit of God that he is lost and can not save himself and his committing his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, having trusted Him for salvation..
Illus: People who recognize this are like the man in a burning building. He sees flames about to engulf him and the firemen below are dying out to him, “Jump, we will save you!" This man has to decide. He may think, “My life is at stake. If I stay here I will surely be burned alive. They are telling me to jump. They say they will catch me. CAN I BELIEVE what they say?" If he believes, his belief does not come into existence when he says, “I believe." His belief comes into existence when he acts on his belief. He says, “I believe they will catch me," and he leaps into space and commits himself to the air. Once he has done this, there is no turning back. He has totally committed himself!
• It is this kind of BELIEF we have when we come to know the God of this Bible.
• We come to recognize we will perish if we continue in the state we are in.
• We are enlightened by the Spirit of God and made aware that we can not save ourselves.
• We commit our lives to the Lord Jesus.
• We "believe" that Jesus is the Savior. He is the Christ, God's Son, Who has come to save.
THE FIRST TEST is, HAS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD CHANGED?
It changed when we recognized we were but one breath away from a burning hell, and when we recognized we could not save ourselves, we took THE LEAP OF FAITH into the arms of Jesus for salvation. We BELIEVED HIM!
This "belief' leads to...
II. THE SECOND TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN HAS CHANGED
Look at verse 1. We read, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is BORN OF GOD...”
Look at the words, "born of God." When God saves us, something VERY RADICAL HAPPENS. The Bible declares we become BORN AGAIN!
Notice, it did not say this is a reformation of the old life. It says this is A NEW BIRTH!
The first proof that we have been BORN AGAIN is that we BELIEVED ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST and now we are NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST JESUS.
As this NEW LIFE begins to develop within us we NO LONGER SEE SIN AS WE ONCE DID.
This NEW MAN WANTS to live a GODLY LIFE.
Illus: One of the prettiest creatures on this earth that God made, is the butterfly. BUT A BUTTERFLY DID NOT START OUT BEAUTIFUL! First it was a lowly worm, then camouflaged as a chrysalis in a cocoon, then this creature changed from something quite unattractive into one of the most beautiful creatures in the world.
Listen, we are kidding ourselves if we say we are children of God but continue to live as we did before. If a transformation has not taken place, it is because we have never been BORN AGAIN!
• THE FIRST TEST we are to take is to see if OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD HAS CHANGED!
• THE SECOND TEST we are to take is to see if OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN HAS CHANGED!
III. THE THIRD TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS HAS CHANGED
When a person comes to know the Lord, his attitude TOWARD GOD and GOD'S CHILDREN will begin to change.
Look at verses 1-2a. We read, "WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat LOVETH HIM ALSO THAT IS BEGOTTEN OF HIM. By this we know that we love the children of God..."
Many who profess to be saved have difficulty passing this test. That is, they tell everyone their attitude toward GOD and SIN has CHANGED, BUT it is obvious THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD "THE BRETHREN" HAS NOT CHANGED.
I know that in every church there are people who CLAIM to LOVE GOD, WHOM THEY HAVE NOT SEEN, BUT THEY DESPISE HIS CHILDREN, WHOM THEY HAVE SEEN!
This is impossible. It is impossible to love God and hate His children who are made in His image.
We have already dealt with this in the previous chapter. In 1 John 4:20, we read, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
When it comes to professing, you have to always remember, people can "profess" to be anything they want!
In doing this they may fool thousands, but no one has ever fooled the Lord Jesus.
Jesus said, Matthew 7:21-23, "NOT EVERY ONE that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is In heaven. MANY will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? AND THEN WILL I PROFESS UNTO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU: DEPART FROM ME YE THAT WORK INIQUITY.”
Probably one of the things that will shock some people the most as they stand before the Lord Jesus, will be HOW MANY PROFESSED TO BE SAVED BUT WHO DISCOVERED THEY WERE NOT SAVED!
The Lord said that "many" would stand before Him telling Him all the things they had done, but Jesus will have to tell them He never knew them.
One of the dearest ways you can tell someone loves the Lord Jesus is by the fact that they love the "brethren.
The Word of God says, John 13:35 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
• THE FIRST TEST we are to take is to see IF OUR
ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD HAS CHANGED!
• THE SECOND TEST we are to take is to see IF OUR
ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN HAS CHANGED!
• THE THIRD TEST we are to take is to see IF OUR
ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS HAS CHANGED.
IV. THE FOURTH TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD'S WORD HAS CHANGED
Look at 1 John 5:2b-3. We know that WE KNOW HIM,
"...when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
There are some who profess to know Jesus, but they would rather be tied to a tree and horse-whipped than go to church and listen to the teaching and preaching of God's Word. They come up with some of the most absurd excuses one could imagine for not coming to church.
There are others who do come to church every time the doors are open, and they listen to God's Word, but then they forget what they heard almost as soon as they get into their cars.
James speaks about people like this. Look at James 1:23- 24. We read, "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”
Illus: How often do we look in the mirror in the morning, then forget what we saw as soon as we leave it.
James says that the Word of God reveals our filthy sins, and we should, "...keep His commandments..." and get rid of them. The child of God who really knows God will LISTEN when God's Word is preached and WILL HEED IT!
• THE FOURTH TEST we are to take IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD'S WORD HAS CHANGED!
V. THE FIFTH TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
Look at verses 4-5. We read, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who Is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
There are people in churches across America who profess to be saved, but whose LOVE FOR THE WORLD IS STRONGER THAN THEIR LOVE FOR THE LORD!
We live in an age when the world has infiltrated churches as never before. Modern-day church members often...
• Dress like the world.
• Watch the same things sinners watch on television.
• Read the same things sinners read.
• Go the same places sinners go.
• Tell the same dirty jokes sinners tell.
• Place sports and recreation ahead of serving the Lord
just as sinners do.
In fact, often you can not find the slightest bit of difference between some of those who claim they love God and the sinners who make no profession of loving God.
We do not want a church that moves with the world. We want a church that will move the world!
John was saying that one of the dearest ways to tell that a person does NOT KNOW the Lord is when you can see he loves what the Bible says he should hate, and hates what the Bible says he should love!
Conclusion:
I. THE FIRST TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD HAS CHANGED
II. THE SECOND TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN HAS CHANGED
III. THE THIRD TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS HAS CHANGED
IV. THE FOURTH TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD'S WORD HAS CHANGED
V. THE FIFTH TEST WE ARE TO TAKE IS TO SEE IF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WORLD HAS
CHANGED
